Orla Comerford’s bags are packed, India’s Golden Triangle awaits. Tucked within the luggage are a couple of newly acquired gold medals – a few extra kilograms for her suitcase but an unquantifiable weight lifted off her shoulders.
A double world champion now.
Over three days at the World Para Athletics Championships in New Delhi last week, the Dubliner confirmed her stature as one of the sport’s top female sprinters.
Gold in the final of the T13 100m (athletes with a visual impairment) on Sunday was followed by gold in the T13 200m on Tuesday. She dominated both races, leading from gun to line, taking off down the track with an authoritative there’s-a-new-sheriff-in-town air whistling off her slipstream.
In September 2024, Comerford won bronze in the 100m at the Paralympic Games in Paris. Then in June she set a new 200m personal best of 24.62. A few weeks later she posted a 100m lifetime best of 11.87.
It has been a season.
“My life changed so much after Paris,” says the 28-year-old Raheny Shamrock sprinter.
Shortly after the Paralympics, she moved to join Daniel Kilgallon’s training group in Tallaght.
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